REFLECTIONS OF DIEPKLOOF REFORMATORY

A collection of short stories, autobiography, drama and poetry complied and edited by Clyde Broster.

Alan Paton – The man who pulled up the barbed wire fences at Diepkloof Reformatory and planted geraniums instead – Looks back with a a kind of gentle astonishment at events that took him as a young schoolmaster from Natal to be Principal at this previously gloomy institution, and at his determination to test whether a firm compassion and a measure of freedom mighty be more effective than harshness and close confinement, in the treatment of young delinquents.

Misgivings, fears, successes, failures, all are dramatically mirrored in a series of reflections drawn from Alan Paton’s heartfelt experiences during his thirteen years as Principal of Diepkloof Reformatory.

Although Dr Paton is internationally known as an author (especially of Cry, the Beloved Country) and as a commentator on politics, it is as an innovative and courageous educationalist that this collection portrays him.

Clyde Broster, senior English master at Rondebosch Boys’ High Schook, Cape Town has selected these writitng of Alan Paton for their narrative skill and their sheer inspiration.